INTERPERSONALEFFECTIVENESS

STUDY

INTERPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS: THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN BUSINESS SUCCESS

Evaluating Corporate Training Practices

Interpersonal Effectiveness Training(IET) has become a staple in today’sbusiness environment as organizationslook to improve productivity withoutincreasing headcount. Interpersonaleffectiveness is the ability to createproductive interactions and maintainpositive working relationships.Companies of all sizes and industriesnow offer stand-alone IET or build it intotheir overall development efforts. TheTRACOM Group, an industry leader ininterpersonal effectiveness training,sought to quantify organizational use of IET and attitudes toward thisincreasingly popular development tool.

TRACOM commissioned independentresearch firm Leflein Associates Inc. touncover best practices for interpersonaleffectiveness training. This study lookedat the value and impact of theseprograms and how they are implementedinside corporations.

In the fall of 2005, Leflein surveyed 100executives responsible for developing,acquiring or implementing corporatetraining programs and who had familiaritywith interpersonal effectiveness training.Each executive knew of one or more ofthe leading programs (Social Style,Myers-Briggs and DiSC). The companieswere geographically dispersed throughoutthe United States and averaged 50,000employees and $8.7 billion in sales.Forty-eight percent were Fortune 500companies. The participating companieswere randomly selected from a variety of sources. Only one person wasinterviewed from each company.

Perceptions of Effectivenessand Importance of IETNinety-nine percent of the surveyedcompanies had experience with IET.Close to three-quarters of theparticipating training professionals(73%) thought IET training worked very

well or extremely well, and thatincreased to 82 percent for those whooffered an IET stand-alone program.

Almost nine in 10 professionals (86%)used one of the leading third-party IETmodels: Social Style, DiSC or Myers-Briggs. These professionals identified

Corporate Interpersonal Effectiveness Training Practices

Key Findings• 73 percent of training professionals believe interpersonal effectiveness training works.

• 84 percent of organizations integrate IET into broader programs, while 39 percent offer IET as a

stand-alone class.

• 95 percent would rather have multi-rater feedback from others and a self-rating of a participant

rather than a self-rating profile alone.

• 86 percent use one of the top three IET instruments (Social Style, DiSC or Myers-Briggs).

• Not all branded instruments are the same. Users of the top-rated instrument per ceived it as 44

percent more effective than users of the bottom-rated instrument.

• IET is projected to grow in 2006 as companies continue to see its value and benefits.

FIGURE 1: PERCEPTION OF HOW WELL IET WORKS

DiSC Users — 61%

Myers-Briggs Users — 73%

Social Style Users — 88%

Social Style as the most effective IET model. Companies currently usingSocial Style were more likely than usersof the other leading instruments tobelieve that IET works. Eighty-eightpercent of Social Style users believedit worked very or extremely well,compared to 61 percent of DiSC-based products and 73 percent ofMyers-Briggs users. (Figure 1)

Eight in ten of those responsible for training programs agreed thatsalespeople and managers/supervisors needed excellentinterpersonal skills to be successful(80% and 78% respectively), but onlyone-third (33%) indicated a high needfor the same skills for technical positionsin IT, accounting or engineering.

Training professionals believedinterpersonal skills were very important for a multitude of tasks performed in the daily work environment: • 98% believed it was very important

for building and maintaining co-worker relationships

• 98% believed it was very important for communicating effectively.

• 97% believed it was very important for managing conflict.

• 94% believed it was very important for retaining valued employees.

These findings were consistent withother research, including the recentManagerial Success Study by TheTRACOM Group. This scientific studylinked high levels of interpersonal skillswith high performance on 43 factors ofmanagerial performance. Managers withhigh-level interpersonal skills showedsignificantly higher performance thantheir low-level interpersonal skillcounterparts; these included:

• 27% established more effective relationships with direct reports

• 20% communicated more effectively• 22% had greater ability to effectively

manage conflict• 22% had greater ability to positively

impact the commitment of his/her direct reports to the organization.

(Figure 2)

Methods of Delivery for IETVirtually all companies surveyed (99%)offered IET in some form. IET was mor ecommonly integrated into a broaderprogram than offered as a stand-alone(84% vs. 39%). At least three-fifths ofleadership, communication andsupervisory programs included an IETcomponent (67%, 65%, and 61%respectively).

The larger the company, the morelikely they were to offer stand-alone IET programs. (Figure 3) Whileintegrated programs offered advantagesof connecting IET to specific businessissues, there were some drawbacks tothe integrated approach. Surveyparticipants said that stand-alone IETprograms were more likely thanintegrated programs to include all theimportant features of IET — pre-classassessment, after-class job aids and afollow-up assessment. (Figure 5)

Organizations most often used off-the-shelf IET programs from independentdevelopers (71%), but over half ofsurveyed companies also developedtheir own IET content (56%) or licensedcontent to include in existing programs(54%). Almost nine in 10 (86%) used o neof the leading third-party IET models:Social Style, DiSC or Myers-Briggs.Many organizations used more than one.

The more participants an organizationhad, the more likely they were to offerblended or e-learning options. Companieswith 300 or more IET participants weremore than twice as likely (78%) to useblended learning as those with less than300 participants (36%).

FIGURE 2: IMPROVEMENT IN MANAGERIAL SKILLS POST-IET

Effective Communication – 20%

Conflict Management – 22%

Staff Commitment – 22%

Effective relationships – 27%

23%41%

55%

FIGURE 3: PROPORTION OFFERING IETBASED ON SIZE OF COMPANY

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Sale

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Corporate Interpersonal Effectiveness Training Practices

When asked about ideal length for IET,most training professionals chose ahalf-day (37%) or full-day (24%) class.The largest companies (over 23,000employees) were most likely to providefull-day IET classes (36%).

IET Model Selection CriteriaVirtually all of the training professionalswho rated assessment tools as veryimportant found it more valuable tohave both self-rating and feedback fromothers as opposed to self-rating alone(95% vs. 5%). (Figure 4)

Professionals identified several steps asimportant to successful implementation:bringing examples to class, pre-classadministration of the interpersonaleffectiveness instrument, a foundationalreview of the material, after-class jobaids, follow-up ROI assessment, andfollow-up learning after the class.(Figure 5)

Emerging TrendsBlended learning delivery of IET was onthe rise. Fifty-seven percent of surveyedprofessionals currently used blendedlearning, and an additional 23 percentplanned to offer it in the future.

In the areas of program format and ROI,there seemed to be a disparity betweenwhat professionals recognized asimportant and what they actuallyimplemented.

Universally, training professionalsrecognized the importance of IET. They had faith in its effectiveness, understood the need for follow-up, and

increasingly wanted to be able tomeasure ROI. Putting this into practice,however, has always been difficult. Eventhough three-quarters (73%) of trainingprofessionals believed IET works, justover a third (36%) used specificmeasures to prove it.

Ninety-two percent said follow-upassessment was important, yet only 46percent currently offered it.

Since interpersonal skills programs havehistorically been hard to measure,professionals often relied on evidencelike personal experience (71%) andgeneral research (53%) to prove itworked. However, as they were calledon increasingly to provide ROI fortraining, professionals were focusingmore on providing proof that IET haspaid off. Based on this study, it wouldappear that evidence and ROImeasurability were as important as easeof implementation when deciding on anIET program.

Other important elements have beenidentified to make an IET program

successful. (Figure 5) On average,eighty-six percent of surveyedprofessionals recognized certaincomponents of an IET program wereessential to its success, but just 56percent actually implemented thesecomponents. This represented a 30percent disparity. While stand-aloneprograms were on average 11 percentmore likely to incorporate theseimportant elements, just 39 percent ofcompanies offered stand-alone IET.

95%Multi-Rater

Self Rating Only5%

FIGURE 4: VALUE OF MULTI-RATERFEEDBACK VS. SELF RATING ONLY

FIGURE 5: STEPS IDENTIFIED FOR TRAINING SUCCESS VS. ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE STEPS

Bring Examples to class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85% . . . . . . . . 59%

Pre-Class IE administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81% . . . . . . . . 54%

Foundational review of materials . . . . . . . . . . . . 76% . . . . . . . . 54%

After-class job aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96% . . . . . . . . 82%

Follow-up assessment measurements . . . . . . . 92% . . . . . . . . 46%

Follow-up workshops/online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84% . . . . . . . . 38%

PUT INTERPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS TRAINING TO WORK FOR YOU. CALL: 303-470-4928 TODAY.

Believed it wasimportant

Currently implemented

Summary andRecommendationsInterpersonal Effectiveness Training(IET) were common within largecompanies, especially whenintegrated into leadership,communication and managementtraining programs. Stand-aloneprograms were more often found atlarger companies, and were morelikely to be integrated programs thatoffered a robust learning experiencewith long-term benefits.

Training professionals believed IETworked and was important for amultitude of tasks performed daily ina variety of job functions. More usersof Social Style believed IET workedthan users of Myers-Briggs or DiSC-based products. Nearly all trainingprofessionals preferred profiles withboth multi-rater and self-raterfeedback to only self-ratinginstruments. Professionalsrecognized the importance ofcollecting ROI information orproviding follow-up learning;however, the average company didnot engage in these activities.

This research validated TRACOM’sexperience working with individualorganizations and other data fromthe field. It identified key trends ininterpersonal effectiveness trainingand will guide the future develop-ment of TRACOM products andservices.

Peak organizational performancerequires an effective workforce withstrong interpersonal skills. In tryingto improve your own organization,evaluate how it compares to the datagathered in this study and alsoconsider the following:

• What is your company doing to ensure successful implementationof interpersonal effectivenesstraining?

• Are you covering all of theimportant steps (pre-classinstrument administration, follow-up learning, etc.)?

• Do you use a multi-rater profilethat is indisputably preferred byprofessionals?

• Have you embeddedinterpersonal skills training inother curriculums?

• What steps are you taking toensure post-class impact of the training?

• Have you measured yourprograms and instrumentseffectiveness over the long-term?

• How many instruments shouldyou be using, and do they allwork together?

• Consider the double standardthat exists based on job functions(perception that IET is moreimportant for jobs like managersand sales than technical jobs).Are you doing enough for all ofyour employees?

Participate in a TRACOM ResearchProject and Discover How to Effectively

Improve Your CompanyÕs Performance

As organizations continually look foroperational efficiencies and competitive

advantages, it's important to consider theperformance potential that exists withintheir own people. The TRACOM Group

offers a variety of services to helpmaximize performance.

TRACOM is committed to ongoingresearch which documents the

connection between interpersonal skillsand job performance. These studies

provide valuable data about companies ina variety of industries and their

employees. Contact us to learn more.

To enhance your company’s performance, contact us to discuss your objectives.

David CollinsVP, Training Products Groupdcollins@tracom.com303-470-4900

303-470-4900800-221-2321www.tracomcorp.com